Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Self-purchased

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around is an awesome mix of translucent neon hexes in various colors and sizes in a clear base. I really love how balanced the color mix is! :) To make the neon hexes really pop, I used 1 coat of Clowning Around over Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. The formula was okay. I found that dabbing gave better results because it made it easier to retrieve the large hexes. When applied normally, usually only the small and medium-sized hexes come out. The clear base had a nice viscosity so it was easy to maneuver the glitter on the nail to get an even distribution. I was very heavy-handed on my left ring finger though. It dried a little bumpy because of the large hexes. With top coat.

You can purchase Clowning Around from Polish Me Silly's Etsy store. The mini (9 mL) is $6.00 while the full-sized (15 mL) is $9.50.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Formula X Dynamic

Self-purchased

Formula X Dynamic is a terrific pale taupe creme. It's a great staple for any collection! I used 2 coats. The formula was creamy and buttery, but not thick. It flowed and applied easily. It dried shiny, but I still used top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Hard Candy So So Sequin + Essie Bikini So Teeny

Self-purchased

Hard Candy So So Sequin (index and middle fingers) is a terrific combination of teal hex and holographic pale pink fine glitter in a clear base. It's so, so pretty - and I aim to use it as much as possible! It's also quite dense so "undies" aren't needed. I used 3 coats. The formula was very dry so I had to add in thinner, which helped a bit. Next time, though, I will need to add more thinner so the polish can actually flow. (This issue probably occurred because people opened the bottle and didn't close it tightly...) I had no problems getting out the teal hexes, but I did have to maneuver them since they tended to clump together. It dried gritty so I used 3 (!) coats of top coat.

Essie Bikini So Teeny (ring and pinky fingers) is a pale, yet vivid periwinkle creme with hidden silver shimmer. It's a darling shade and perfect for spring and summer. I used 3 coats. The formula was thin and watery, but wasn't too hard to control. I just had to make sure to apply it carefully. It dried shiny, but I still used top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

The Hungry Asian Mini Spam

Self-purchased
 

Today, I have a mini spam of all The Hungry Asian minis I have! (Sorry not sorry for the bad pun. :P) I've had these unswatched and unworn for a couple years now, which makes me super sad since these were some of my very first indies! So let's get rolling...

Tamala is a black jelly, which is a super rare type of polish. Even with the indie polish boom, it's a shame that black jellies are still so difficult to find. :( I used 3 coats. The formula was very good. Since it was described as "sheer," I expected Tamala to be streaky on the first coat because that's sometimes how sheer jellies are. I was surprised to find it coated evenly on the first coat! It was easy to apply too. It dried shiny so I didn't use top coat.

Belle has dark mocha and rosy pink glitter in a white crelly base. The glitter color combination is unusual, but I find it very pretty and delicate. I used 4 thin coats. The formula was okay. It was tricky to apply because normal application didn't work since the glitter would wipe off. I had to resort to dabbing, which had the added benefit of getting more glitter onto my nails. The dark mocha glitter was still hard to get out at first. Setting the bottle upside-down before each coat really helped get more of them out. It dried shiny, but a bit bumpy and uneven so I used top coat to smooth it out.

Twenty Ten has red, holographic blue hex, and fine blue glitter in a black jelly base. It's another very pretty color with a certain depth to it. The polish makes me think of galaxies whenever I see it. 

I used 3 coats. The formula was great. The glitters were easy to get out so I was able to polish normally. No dabbing was necessary. It dried shiny and very slightly bumpy so I used top coat to smooth it out.

Strawberry has black specks in a delicious, juicy red crelly base. It's my favorite of the four and definitely back-up/full-sized worthy in my opinion. *swoon* My heart is singing! 8D Strawberry really does evoke its namesake and is still another unusual polish to find. I have to give props to The Hungry Asian for producing such unusual, but charming polishes. I used 3 coats, but if you have short nails or are fine with the nail line showing, then 2 coats would be sufficient. The formula was wonderful and pigmented. It went on very smoothly and practically applied itself. I wanted a lot of the black specks on my nails so I set the bottle upside-down before each application. It dried smoothly and super shiny.

I purchased these four polishes from The Hungry Asian.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Zoya Ivanka

Self-purchased

Zoya Ivanka is a grassy green jelly packed with gold glassflecks. My nails looked like glistening emeralds! It's very springy and refreshing! :D Hence, I feel like it's more appropriate for spring. (But we never get spring weather here... So sad.) I used 3 coats to make sure patches wouldn't show up on camera, but I think I could have gotten away with just 2 coats. The formula was a bit thin, but I didn't have any trouble with application. I didn't have to do any cleanup after because it was so easy to manipulate! (Who doesn't hate cleanup?) It dried very reflective and shimmery. :D With top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

La Noirceur

La noirceur: (French) noun. blackness

Recently, I have been seeing black-on-sheer-black manis. I was inspired and decided to give my very simple take on them! :)

I applied 2 very light coats of Sally Hansen Smoky for the base. It has very fine shimmer in it, which made for a great twist on the standard black-on-sheer-black mani. I used Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and my second smallest dotting tool for the polka dots. The ring is from Born Pretty Store.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Models Own Magpie

Self-purchased

Models Own Magpie is a slightly blue-toned mint crelly loaded with various sizes of black hex glitter to give a speckled effect. (Unfortunately, I couldn't correctly capture the color. It really is a mint in real life! :( ) Instead of looking like speckled eggs as it was marketed, Magpie reminds me of mint chocolate ice cream. :D Om nom nom... I used 2 coats on my nubs. Longer nails might need 3 coats for opacity. For a crelly, it covered surprisingly well on the first coat. Crellies usually take 3 coats to become opaque. The formula was great! Even though it was a tad thick, I had no problems polishing or getting out the glitter. It was also easy to control. It dried shiny, but lumpy-looking so I used top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Les Nail Smiths: September 2014 - India

Today, I have the second installment of Les Nail Smiths! I'm still super excited about this collaboration with my friend, Millie, from The Nail Smith! This time, Millie chose the prompt. After watching The Hundred-Foot Journey, Millie was inspired by the colors and patterns intrinsic to Indian culture. (I actually watched the movie a day after Millie - what a coincidence! - and I was just as inspired myself!) I decided to remain conventional and use colors and a stamp image that are usually associated with India.

For my base and stamping polish, I used Love & Beauty Fuchsia and Essie Good as Gold, respectively. I finally got my "medium" squishy stamper from Born Pretty Store and was sooo excited to use it for this look! The floral image is from the PUEEN 109 plate. I used turquoise loose hex glitter, also from Born Pretty Store, to decorate the centers of the large flowers. (The hexes on my middle finger fell off overnight. :( ) I placed the hexes with my smallest dotting tool. I finished it all off with top coat.

Make sure to also check out Millie's vision of "India"!

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Color Club In the Limelight + OPI Polka.com

Self-purchased

Color Club In the Limelight is a wonderful dark periwinkle creme, though the first coat was unexpectedly sheer. I used 2 coats. The formula was a bit thin, but easily built up and applied well. It dried very shiny so I didn't use top coat.

OPI Polka.com has a mixture of magenta, blurple, and teal glitter in a clear base. It's super pretty! Yet another polish I don't know why I haven't worn until now... :( I dabbed/brushed on 1 coat. The formula was subpar for OPI standards. The base is thin and a bit runny, which makes for a bad glitter base. As mentioned, I had to use a mixture of dabbing and brushing to apply Polka.com. However, I had little trouble getting out the hex glitter. :) It dried shiny and mostly smooth so I didn't use top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Mentality Cupcake

Self-purchased

 

Mentality Cupcake is a darling pale pink matte creme with pink specks. When top-coated, the pink specks glimmer and adopt a metallic appearance. Cupcake is very princess-like and girly, but not overdone. :) I used 2 coats. The formula had great viscosity and was quite pigmented for such a pale shade, but application was tricky because it was a matte creme. I had to make sure I applied the polish evenly and not drag the brush; otherwise, it would dry unevenly and show brushstrokes. The specks have a tendency to settle at the bottom so I recommend setting the polish upside-down and rolling the polish before applying it. I chose to leave it in its natural state (matte) for my swatch.

I purchased Cupcake from Mentality's shop.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle